Justice News

Federal Charges Filed In Sex Trafficking Of Minor

CHICAGO − A man who allegedly sex trafficked an underage girl by force was charged in a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The defendant, ALLEN C. IROEGBULEM, 24, of Roselle, Illinois, was charged with sex trafficking of a minor. The charges were announced today by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Iroegbulem appeared today before U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Martin at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, was will remain in custody pending a detention hearing. The defendant was charged in a criminal complaint filed on February 4, 2015.

According to the complaint, beginning in December 2013, and continuing through February 2014, the defendant transported “Minor A” from the Chicagoland area to Rockford, Illinois, where he arranged for the minor to perform commercial sex acts with at least four men in exchange for money, all in the same night. The minor continued to perform sex acts at the direction of the defendant in hotel rooms throughout the Chicagoland area, at a house on the west-side of Chicago and in Wisconsin, where the minor was continually ordered to perform sex acts with several men at one time, over the course of three months. In addition, Iroegbulem physically assaulted the minor.

The complaint also states that the defendant provided another minor, “Minor C,” with drugs in a hotel room, causing her to pass out. He then arranged for two men to perform sex acts on Minor C while she was in a drugged state.

The investigation was conducted jointly by the FBI and the Carol Stream Police Department and assisted by the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department, the Woodstock Police Department, the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office, and the Schaumburg Police Department.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorney Bethany Biesenthal.